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Fortunate Gora Mash West Correspondent
Government has warned tobacco farmers that they risk being banned from growing the crop if they do not establish woodlots for curing their tobacco. Most tobacco farmers, especially the small-scale producers, rely on indigenous trees. The warning comes after indications that the country was losing about 330 000 hectares of trees annually to deforestation with about 30 percent being destroyed by tobacco farmers.

Forestry Commission general manager Mr Abedinigo Marufu said they were concerned about the rate at which tobacco growing provinces were being affected by deforestation.

He said farmers should register their woodlots of fast growing trees with the commission.

“This year we will be advising tobacco farmers that we are banning the use of indigenous trees for tobacco curing, so starting from next season anyone who is going to cure tobacco using indigenous trees will be arrested and fined. In the worst case scenario they will be banned from growing tobacco.”

Deforestation has been attributed to the growing number of small-scale tobacco farmers in the country as most of them cannot afford coal or electricity and resort to chopping down trees for curing.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) says at least 169 875 farmers have so far registered to grow the golden leaf this season, up from 118 048 last year.

“We are losing 330 000ha of our indigenous trees in which 30 percent of this is related to tobacco farming and we are pleading with the TIMB to educate their farmers on the effects of deforestation and establish woodlots.’’

In 2014 TIMB and tobacco merchants established a Sustainable Afforestation Association meant to counter massive deforestation.

The initiative has seen about 4 000ha being planted each year. Government, Mr Marufu said, had also supported the commission and TIMB by allowing them to share the tobacco levy from farmers.

This, he said, had allowed the commission to conduct campaign awareness programmes across the country educating farmers to make use of renewable sustainable energy like solar and biogas.

Mr Marufu said farmers should adhere to Statutory Instrument 116 of 2012 which requires every tobacco farmer to plant trees.

“We are saying for every hectare of tobacco grown 500 trees must be planted. If he puts 2ha under tobacco, he will have to plant 1000 trees.’’

There are fears that failure to grow the crop sustainably could threaten the tobacco industry. He also criticised the use of coal in curing saying the mineral produces gas emissions, which were hazardous to the environment.